Safety car wrench



Nov. 7, 1933. J. PRESCOTT SAFETY CAR WRENCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June28, 1932 Nov. 7, 1933. J. PRESCOTT SAFETY CAR WRENCH Filed June 28, 19522 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented Nov. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 9 1,933,756 I V SAFETY CAR WRENCH..- v Joseph Prescott,Youngstown, Ohio Application June 28, 1932. I S erial No'. 619,637

4 Claims. (o1.254--131') The present invention relates broadlytoirnplements for lifting or pulling, and more particularly to animproved implement of the type adapted for the closing of doors of thehopper type, and usually referred to as car wrenches.

It has been customary in the past with many cars of the hopper type tobe provided with a winch and chain mechanism for closing the doors. Theoperation of such winches has usually been efiected by the use of a longwrench rotated about .theaxis of the winch in 'a plane near the side ofthe gondola or car body. Not infrequently the operator utilizing such awinch would get his fingers caughtbetween the wrench and the side of thecar with resultant injury. Later, hopper cars were constructed with, theso-called Wine lock and the so-called f B. '8; 0. look; Both of theselocks comprise a latch at the bottom of the hopper engageable with asuitable cooperating mechanism on the door for holding the door closed.Many workmen inattempting to close hopper doors on cars using locks ofthis character would grasp the doors iwith their hands and unthinkinglyhave their fingers in such position that they were sheared ofi orseverally injured when the doors, closed. ,Other' workmen, attempting topush the .doors to a closed position by using their feet have notinfrequently more or less seriously strained themselves by reason of theeffort involved;

The present invention has for one of its. objects the production of acar wrench by the use of which a workman may close a door of thecharacter referred to, easily, quicklyand without liability of injury.'

-In the accompanying drawings I have shown for purposes of illustrationonly, certain preferred embodiments of therpresent invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a wrench constructed inaccordance with the present invention; 1 V

" Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the wrench shown in Figure lwith the lifting chain and its carrying means removed from the lever;

Figure 3 is a detail view, on an enlargedscale,

of a portion of the structure shown in Figure 1;

V Figure 4 is a detail sectional view along the line IVIV of Figure 3,looking in the direction of the arrows; Y

Figure 5 is a side elevationalview of a portion of the hopper showing.the hopper door in open position with my improved wrench attachedthereto preparatory to closing the doo U Figure 6 is aview similar toFigure 5, but illusrating the door in closed position;

Figure 7 is a view. similar to Figure 5, illustrat ing a modified formof latching means for,1hopper doors:

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figurejfi showing the dooroi Figure 7 inclosed position; and

Figiue 9 is a detail sectional viewisimilar to Figure 3, illustrating amodification. 3 j

' Referring more particularly toFigures 1 and 2 of the drawings, thereis illustrated a car wrench constructed in accordance with the presentcurved backwardly andthen forwardly extending offset. ordoglegged.fulcrum portion}. The

invention and comprising a generally 1 straight handle portion 2 with agenerally extreme end 40f the, fulcrum portion} is, conveniently ofthebifurcated shapeillustratedin Figure 2 to provide spaced fulcrumpoints 5.

Intermediate 1 the I handle 2 and .the portion 3, the wrench is.provided with anuopeningi .6

through which is adapted to extend apivot pin 7' for pivotally'connecting a ,chainflclarnp. 81110 The chain clamp comprises ,bifurthehandle.

. cations Q'adapted to straddle the portion of the wrench adjacent theopening 6 and'receive the pivot pin '7.

The free end of thefclamp 8 is shaped to provide a generally,rectangular a chain clamping plate 12. The plate'12 is of suchdimensions as" to provide 'a space 14 between the end of the 'plate 'andthe crossbar 15 'of such dimensions as to. receive a chain link 16 whenturned flatwise' .as illustrated Vine lopem'ng' 10 through which extendsa pivotllfor 85 counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig ure 3 islimited only by a spring 18 carriedby the clamp and extending intooverlapping relationship to theplate. V I

, The chain l9,'of which ferred to constitutes a component part, is ofany suitable length, and carries at one end thereof a ring 20' adaptedto be engaged by an operator for manipulating the chain, and at theopposite end carries a door engaging hook 21. With the constructiondescribed, by grasping the ring 20 and pulling upwardly, the plate 12may be and the cross-piece 15 to permit the chain to move freelytherebetween. The desired posithe link '16 before retioning of the chainhaving been efiected, the

plate 12 is permitted to rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed inFigure 3 until it engages the stops l7, whereupon further movement of 5the plate in a clockwise direction is prevented and the chain is clampedin adjusted position within the clamp 8.

In Figures 5 and 6 there is illustrated a portion of thehopper 22 of ahopper or gondola type car, with;the open side; of which hoppercooperates a door 23. Projecting from the hopper 22 is a latch 24adapted to engage a suitable keeper 25 on the door 23. The latchmechanism of Figures 5 and 6 is of the type usually requires no specificdescription for its ,understanding. Assuming the door to'be in the openposition illustrated in fullglines infiigure, the book 21 of the wrenchmay be engaged with the door as illustrated in this figure, andthe-fulcrum portion 3 of the ,w ench positioned upon ,the upper face of,an angle A extending acrossthe ghne s bstantiall ,ha alle tot td ,I dte lines .ihF 'eurelfi th w enchui illustrated in engagement with the,angle. In this PQSition,the handle ,2 ,,of, the .wrench proj ectsoutwardly from the car body ,in such posit n that lm h f e eh ased h ..awo man withoutany. iearof catching his fingers or hand .hetwee ith w eheih hd eh any n 9 9 .he,e.a s u u e ,i hereunQ the, han ert en 5 rthewehehisewuh temca. substa it ally ho z ta pos tio int th d 0t.ted lineeition of ,Figure 6,. aro nd th .iu er 'neihtee- D r n thi c hovemenhth.cha nlfiliscgradua l .d wn nwarsflmneehchma ne that th d or 2 is sw nrom its ope nQsi iQhe Fi ur 5 ht u t r le e ho en l fia r cfi .A th lim;.t e. e. p it h .i ireeehed ,th ceh .t., ..ma c,e te -sub tantiall nahhementw v.t hahdl portio o th wrenehuth -wreheh le {t i ,ti he extendn in subst ntially. the,v po itleheheivh .in Fi u e. 1,- 1 r5 h motherinrheenl eeedsehdth nkee e .25. harms ehg e dth l te 1 .4 -th re ainin QLZ 'cZ Q Je Y Q WlD 29m i tl ne sit qh ie jfiehrefi iht it l c l hen site of, Fi u 1 :iQ hr veh ,aecideht ,n qehina of. th .door- .50 IhFiehrefleh .th e s l y trate ashs "1 mo ifie g e me h p leek heetr tur re heejfleh e ih o th tvn n diha il c r eri e esa ih il .a tachme Th ttehmehtee p ee a l h :ZTher ipirot 5 5,5 .mehht eiz Lon ehenpe '29 andadeptesixt e a e e en eh le a on th sd orel- QQ t e ren ha i g b n secue o e a abl ho tie h th j o a hdic te in :Figure 7, the door is moved to.its dotted line position and the ends 5 ,of the fulcrurn -portion 3 ofr the wrench positioned on the angle 32 as'before described, whereupon"it is swung from its positionat subs antially right angles to the sideof the carinto its ,position of Fi gillresB for moving the door 31 fromits. dotted *line position to its closedposition. The wrench havingengaged the ,angle ,30, the 93111133 is swung from its full lineposition of Figure 7 :to' its full line position of Figure 8, preventingaccidental unlockingof thehopper door.

A given door of thehopper having been closed, -;the wrench is releasedtherefrom and applied to the next door and the operation repeated.

As-will be apparent from a comparison for example of the location of;the angle A Of referred to as a B. & O. lock attachment andc rwardly.,By reason of the fact that the fulcrum the wrench normally projectsfreely outwardly from the side of the car, it may be easilyrengaged bythe operator and lifted or pulled upportion 3 is curved or offset, asindicated more particularlyin'Figurev 1 of the drawings, it will jbe,,apparent;tliatby; dropping the outer end of the handle portiondownwardly, the fulcrum points*5- may be disposed sufficiently above thegeneralcplane V of the handle ,portion ,of. ,thelever tolfacilitatepositioning these points. behind.. the

, angle. This obviates theun'ecessity. of.,exerting any ,pre closinginfluence .(on' .the door to -,be

,e ose and .makes ,it rpossible to com-' 1 00 pletely .close ,a given.doorcentirely through ,the

use of thesafetypar wrench;

c From the fo soih fleseription, i iwill beanp rent tha I have 7, povided .abar, wrench com- .prising.,.a;leverpfjhesecqhd013 5, i. e,,,.alever m5 in ,which the resistance to movement, is applied a ami intrmediat the fulcrum andithe point of ,applica'tionuof the movingrforce.

I n,,Figure 9 ,theregis ,shown ,in side ,elevation a ,slightly modifiedembodiment of 1 the invenago tion, wh rein narts correspondi g .to th "pmore pa icularly. efiFfi ure 3oand-4 .ar give'n the same reference,oharacte'rs having, however a prim aflixed thereto. rln accordance withth ...einhod ment ..the limiti'ngi springs l8 Jissren pl ced. byialriidcbar 18', .lwhichis directly-..c.arcried. by .th c ain .e ampso stoxtend tran verselyithereo in.- such position as-.,to limit hp- .ward iviheih im vement o theelamn h p at i .Th advanta ..o ethepresentinvention arise m th Prov sion o a par wrenehladiustable t .d.oors of cdi ie ehtccharaeteristi st u tur s and type randieffectiv ;f movn the oor to cl sed position withaminimnm amoun 025 dan e -h .im r ctothhperator.

c l nrthe ..adv ntae s ariseirom the prov o o ,a wrench of comparativelysimple and inexpensive construction which may be readily attached to ordetachedfrom the door-to be closedmo and which provides a leverportion-projecting freely beyond any obstructingportirin of the car bodyin'such mannerthatitmay be easily engaged and manipulated -byan'operator without fear of injury. g Still further' aldvantages arisefromethe l'pro- -vision of a ;car' 5wrench"-wherein the fulcrum portionis generally curved or offsetwithrrespect to the handle 7 portion insuch manner that ;the k um Q tmn ma h ngaged with-a .station- {340 -ary:part of the car structure with the door cl ms, ;=.150

I claim:

l. A tool for closing the doors of hopper-bottom cars, comprising alever having a handle at one end, and a foot at the other end forengaging the car bottom, a chain clamp pivoted to the lever between thefoot and handle, said clamp having an opening therethrough, a chain insaid opening having alternately arranged links the opening being ofsufiicient size to permit the chain to pass freely therethrongh, apivoted stop plate arranged to swing over the opening to prevent thepassage through the opening of the link of the chain above the plate,and stop means for limiting pivotal movement of the stop plate in eachdirection.

2. A tool for closing the doors of hopperbottoin cars, comprising alever having a handle.

at one end, and a foot at the other end for engaging the car bottom, achain clamp pivoted to the lever between the foot and handle,

clamp having an opening therethrough, a chain in said opening havingalternately arranged links, the opening being of suificient size topermit the chain to pass freely therethrough, a'

pivoted stop plate arranged to swing over the opening leaving only anarrow transverse slot near the outer end through which a linl: willpass flatwise but will prevent the passage of a link edgewise, and stopmeans for limiting pivotal movement of the plate in each direction.

3. A tool for closing the doors of hopper-bottom cars comprising a leverhaving a handle portion adapted to be grasped by the user, and a I footor fulcrum portion adapted to engage a fixed part of a car, a chainholder secured tothe lever between the handle and foot, and a chainadjustably engaged by said holder, said chain having a hook adapted toengage a'portio'n of a car door adjacent its free edge, and said leverhaving a substantially dog-legged portion extending rearwardly betweenthe foot and handle, whereby swinging of the handle about the footcauses closing movement of the door before the handle approaches thebody of the car.

i. A tool for closing the doors of hopper-bottom oars comprising a leverhaving a handle portion adapted to be grasped by the user, and a foot orfulcrum portion adapted to engage a fixed part or" a car, a chainadjustably secured to said lever between the handle and foot, said chainhaving a hook adapted to engage a portion of a car door adjacent itsfree edge, and said lever having a substantially dog-legged portionextending rearwardly between the foot and handle, whereby swinging ofthe handle about the foot causes closing movement of the door before thehandle approaches the body of the car.

JOSEPH PRESCOTT.

